More rain, not snow on the way through end of year

Remember, the chances of a white Christmas in the Boston area are under 25%, so the fact that this year will be brown and green not white isn’t that abnormal. Nonetheless, I know many of you would like to see some snow before we close out 2012, however, it’s just not lining up that way this year.

After our mixed bag of snow, sleet and freezing rain the next two storms are poised to be too warm for much, if any, wintry precipitation here in southern New England. Any snow will be confined to the mountains and even there rain could be an issue a few times this week. We have two more storms to affect the region. The first storm will be overnight tonight and into the first part of Tuesday with the second later Thursday night and Friday. You can follow me on Twitter at @growingwisdom and check out my latest videos at GrowingWisdom.com

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This afternoon
Cold air is much heavier and denser than its warmer counterpart. Over the past twenty-four hours warm air streamed north and rode over the cold air at the ground. The result has been for any snow that formed in the clouds to melt as is fell into this warm layer.

From Boston south the air at the ground was above freezing so rain has been the only weather issue. However, inland and up north, temperatures at the ground continued to be cold. The result, as the rain fell into the cold air it refroze into sleet or created a glaze of ice on contact with the sidewalk, your car or the trees. This afternoon, some freezing drizzle will continue to be a problem mostly north and west of Route 495. The good news is that we are trending warmer, not colder and the icing issues will diminish with each passing hour.
Overnight through Wednesday
Our next weather maker will ride in from the Ohio valley. The track of this storm is such that rain will be the predominant precipitation type not snow. However, across ski country there will be some significant snow with at least another half foot of snow for those areas.

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As the storm pulls further away late Tuesday winds will begin to increase and Wednesday looks like a blustery and cloudy day with scattered rain showers. Temperatures will be mild reaching the upper 40s and lower 50s Tuesday as southern New England stays on the warmer side of this storm. There may be some street flooding in a few places with the heavy amounts of rain on the order of 1 to 2 inches.Thursday and Friday
We get a break in the action on Thursday with partial sunshine and seasonable temperatures in the 40s. However, clouds will already be increasing as the next in this series of storms moves into the area for Friday. The next storm will again be accompanied by mild air so that the precipitation will fall as rain, not snow. Behind this system it will turn colder with highs only in the 30s for the upcoming weekend before Christmas.Longer range
The outlook continues warm and stormy through the end of the year with the trend of mild and wet weather on the docket for the last week of the month. The maps below show that the long range models are keeping much of the east mild and wet as we close out 2012 and ring in 2013.

Newsletter
Every few months I write a newsletter on gardening and a bit about weather. You can see the newsletter for December by clicking here. You can sign up for the newsletter at Growing Wisdom. It’s free and no one else gets the email addresses.Caring for poinsettias
If you love these traditional Christmas plants there are a few things you can do to keep them looking great into and beyond 2013.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this blog or any others. Please follow me on Twitter at @growingwisdom and check out my latest videos at GrowingWisdom.com